A Boeing whistleblower who raised concerns about one of the carrier’s suppliers ignoring production defects died suddenly on Tuesday — just two months after another employee who sounded the alarm about the embattled company died by alleged suicide.
Joshua Dean, 45, a former quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems, died Tuesday morning from a fast-growing mystery infection, the Seattle Times reported.
Dean, of Wichita, Kan., had reportedly been in good health until about two weeks ago, when he was admitted to the hospital, the outlet reported.
However, by April 21 he was in “very critical condition,” and had tested positive for influenza B, MRSA, and pneumonia, the outlet said.
He was intubated and put on dialysis before eventually being airlifted to another hospital in Oklahoma City.
A CT scan indicated that he had also suffered a stroke.
Shortly before his death, doctors were considering amputating his hands and feet, which had turned black from infection, baffling his family and doctors.
“He is in the worst condition I have ever known or heard of. Even the hospital agrees,” his sister-in-law, Kristen Dean, wrote on Facebook Saturday, before detailing the life saving procedures doctors were trying in order to save him.
His family announced that he died Tuesday morning.
Dean had raised the alarm about defects while working at Spirit Aerosystems, a Kansas-based company which manufactures aircraft parts for Boeing in 2022. Less than a year later he was fired.
“I think they were sending out a message to anybody else,” Dean later told NPR of his firing. “If you are too loud, we will silence you.”
Dean, who had been at Spirit since 2019 as a quality auditor, raised concerns about improperly drilled bulkhead holes on parts for Boeing 373 Max planes, according to the Seattle Times. He claimed flagging the issue with his management had no effect.
He has said his focus on the improperly drilled parts caused him to miss another issue with fittings between the vertical tail fin to the fuselage of the aircraft, which was later discovered and led to his being fired.
The issues with the improper drilling were later acknowledged by Spirit Aerosystems. Both issues caused delays at Boeing manufacturiung plants.
Dean – who provided testimony he and other workers were told to downplay any problems they identified – filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration which claimed he was scapegoated in Spirit’s effort to keep the Boeing production issues secret.
In November 2023, he also filed a complaint with the Department of Labor on the grounds of wrongful termination.
That case was still pending at the time of his death, the outlet said.
Following a January incident involving a door hatch which flew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight, one of Dean’s former colleagues backed up his claims to the Seattle Times.
“It is known at Spirit that if you make too much noise and cause too much trouble, you will be moved,” Dean told the Wall Street Journal earlier this year.
“It doesn’t mean you completely disregard stuff, but they don’t want you to find everything and write it up.”
Dean’s death comes less than two months after Boeing whistleblower John Barnett died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in March.
His death is still under investigation by the local police after Barnett’s lawyers raised the alarm, saying “we didn’t see any indication he would take his own life … no one can believe it,” and urging a thorough investigation.
The same lawyer, Brian Knowles, was also representing Dean.
He told TIME: “Josh’s passing is a loss to the aviation community and the flying public.
“He possessed tremendous courage to stand up for what he felt was true and right and raised quality and safety issues,” Knowles added.
When asked if he agreed with the growing theories linking his clients’ back-to-back deaths, Knowles said he “would like to see the evidence from the investigating authorities.”
“What society does not need is people in fear to speak up,” he noted.
Spirit Aerosystems told multiple outlets that their “thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family.”
“This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones,” the company said.
